Managerial functions do differ from the roles managers play in companies. Functions are the responsibilities of a manager. They include some of the key duties listed in a manager's job description. One function is leading. Roles are the actions these professionals take to perform various functions. A role within leading may be training a new employee. Managerial functions tend to be the same in most organizations; however, managerial roles may vary widely and are largely contigent upon the company's size and the required manager-subordinate relationship.

Types of Functions and Roles

Managers have four basic functions in companies: Planning, leading, organizing and controlling. Some experts list staffing as a fifth function, which is the process of finding the right employees to fill positions. Roles include various actions such as negotiating contracts or representing a department at a meeting, according to MindTools.com. Another role may be the creation of a new advertising slogan for a television commercial. Managerial roles change as new projects and situations arise. Most roles fall under one of three main categories: interpersonal, informational and decisional.

Planning, Leading and Managerial Roles

Most managers in companies are responsible for both planning and leading, which are two separate functions. As a planner, a small company finance manager may create a budget for all company departments, then disseminate the information to them. The creation and dissemination of the budget are roles. The process of collecting information from employees to create the budget is also considered a role. Similarly, a marketing director may lead a team of managers in introducing a new product to the market. The marketing director may serve as a liaison between upper management and the managers throughout various phases of the project. This liaison establishment is a role within the function of leading, a primary management function. More specifically, it's an interpersonal role.

Organizing and Roles

A small company manager also assumes the function of organizer. A plant manager's organizational function may include the role of scheduling hourly workers. The actual role of the supervisor may be that of a human resource allocator. A manager that schedules workers' hours is taking on a decisional role, which is one of the three primary role categories. Supervisors that properly schedule their workers can help maximize plant production and reduce labor expenses for their companies. Consequently, during their performance reviews, they may receive high ratings for the function of organizing.

Controlling and Roles

A manager in a small company may also perform various roles when demonstrating the function of controlling. For example, a marketing research manager may monitor the progress of customer surveys being conducted by an outside research agency. The act of monitoring is the actual role, which falls under the larger umbrella of informational roles. Monitoring is also a subset of controlling, the actual function. Similarly, a manager may handle conflict between two employees. Conflict resolution is the role, and that role also falls under the function of controlling.

Considerations

Functions and roles may vary between small and large companies. Some small company managers, for example, may not have secretaries like their large company counterparts. Therefore, their roles may include more administration, such as filing, planning meetings or answering phones. Conversely, managers in larger companies may be restricted to very specialized roles: overseeing payroll or managing databases, for instance.